Abstract
The Majorana Collaboration is constructing the Majorana Demonstrator, an ultra-low background, 44-kg modular high-purity Ge (HPGe) detector array to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76Ge. The phenomenon of surface micro-discharge induced by high-voltage has been studied in the context of the Majorana Demonstrator. This effect can damage the front-end electronics or mimic detector signals. To ensure the correct performance, every high-voltage cable and feedthrough must be capable of supplying HPGe detector operating voltages as high as 5 kV without exhibiting discharge. R&D measurements were carried out to understand the testing system and determine the optimum design configuration of the high-voltage path, including different improvements of the cable layout and feedthrough flange model selection. Every cable and feedthrough to be used at the Majorana Demonstrator was characterized and the micro-discharge effects during the Majorana Demonstrator commissioning phase were studied. A stable configuration has been achieved, and the cables and connectors can supply HPGe detector operating voltages without exhibiting discharge.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 83-90 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment |
| Volume | 823 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1 2016 |
Funding
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under Award Numbers DE-AC02-05CH11231 , DE-AC52-06NA25396 , DE-FG02-97ER41041 , DE-FG02-97ER41033 , DE-FG02-97ER41042 , DE-SC0012612 , DE-FG02-10ER41715 , DE-SC0010254 , and DE-FG02-97ER41020 . We acknowledge support from the Particle Astrophysics Program and Nuclear Physics Program of the National Science Foundation through grant numbers PHY-0919270 , PHY-1003940 , 0855314 , PHY-1202950 , MRI 0923142 and 1003399 . We acknowledge support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research , grant No. 15-02-02919 . We acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy through the LANL/LDRD Program . This research used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 . This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 . We thank our hosts and colleagues at the Sanford Underground Research Facility for their support.
Keywords
- High-voltage
- Majorana
- Micro-discharge
- Vacuum